For 2 years I have been telling my doctor I keep getting electric shock sensations in my head, makes me feel as if someone has shaken my brain inside my skull, I also get a click & buzzing that I can hear at the same time.

Since my diagnosis with Fibro, everything seems to get put down to 'oh it's your fibro' but in the next breath they're telling my that the fibro is in my head, I should go see the shrink...

Now my balance is so bad I'm constantly falling over, walking like i'm drunk, my legs give way which the kids find funny as they say 'mums dancing again', I'm losing the ability in my hands, sometimes they just don't want to work & picking up something is damn near impossible as my grip won't do what my brain tells it. Now my hearing is going, went to the doctor and now I have yet another set of hospital appointments with neuro & now ENT.

I just wondered if anyone else with a Fibro diagnosis is experiencing the same?

xox to all

43 Replies

Morning it sounds quite like tinutis I dont usually get ringing in ears but a sort of distorted radio sound and my balance is getting somewhat worse I have to say that I visit a long list of medicin men so I have not explored this with the doc I just get on with it. It could be from fibro or something else. Good luck please ;et us know how you get on xgins

It could be a side effect of your medication - I know these sensations are suffered by people who take prozac/duloxetine/ seroxat - all the SSRI group of drugs - especially if they cut down or miss a few doses.

It sounds as though it should be investigated tho' - so it's a good job you have ENT and Neuro appointments.

I can't take those drugs as I've had bad reactions to everyone they've tried me on, think i've done the list from A - Z on that so now it's just pain relief & am limited on that as I am allergic to morphine ....

I experience the same thing. I don't take my SSRI, Cymbalta like I should, dosage, and same time of day. then I get this feeling in my head. I'm not dizzy, I feel light headed, a little, but I feel more electrical impulses. it's an awful feel. I know it's not by blood pressure. I don't have fibo, and I don't have ringing of the ears. It's just in my brain. it's like I feel the electrical synapse. I hate the feeling.

Hi hunny, Yes it is a fibro symptom. I had the same buzzing and still get it. I told my doc, he said tinitus, but if you are like me the buzzing is like having a bee inside yur head. I couldnt undersatnd it because i always thought tinitus was buzzing or hissing in your ears, mine is actually in my head not my ears, but apparently it is tinitus. I knwo its frustrating going to gp because in my experience they seem to put everything down to fibro !! but after testing for other things and them coming back normal it must be the fibro. And afetr being on this wonderful site, you do learn everyone is getting or had the same symptoms.

Mine seems to be worse when i'm stressed or tierd? does this sound familiar?? Keep coming on here though, ive found it very helpful being a member on here because everyone understands and they dont judge you like friends and family can at times do just because they cant understand it, its the invisable illness that no one would want but some choose to be ignorant and judge you. I wouldnt wish this on anyone.

Thanks Eversohappy, I do get tinitus also which is more a high pitch noise in my ears, quite annoying sometimes as it gets so loud I have difficulty hearing other things over it. The buzzing in my head is different though, it's really difficult to explain, the only way I can explain the sensation is a click then buzz at the same time as feeling as if I have just had an electric shock to the head or a blow to the back of the head making my brain feel as if it's been shaken inside my skull. When I have tried to explain this to the GP they give me a strange look as if I'm crazy or something

I know what you mean about the GP's putting everything down to fibro, I got mad with my gp and asked them if I cane to the surgery with my leg hanging off would that also be put down to fibro, that's when they referred me back to the physio & pain clinic, not that they helped before, but I'm still going maybe something will be done this time.

The medical profession make you feel as if you are going crazy. They label everything as fibro on one hand then basically write you off by prescribing pain killers upon pain killers. I'm currently taking 4 different pain killers, I can't take the other meds as my body reacts badly to them, they tried me on lyrica and that was horrific, my family thought I was dying with the bad side effects I suffered so my GP took me off of those. I''m also allergic to morphine so that makes pain relief a nightmare trying to find things I can take.

Watch the news for mad London woman goes crazy at medical profession lol coz that's how frustrated I feel with them all. I have been going round and round in circles for years with them all from one department to the next. It took them 18 years to diagnose fibro and now they have it seems like they've written me off. I've even had a GP ask me 'Well what do you want us to do?'. So I told him straight, Find a cure or take the time out to make sure the treatment you are prescribing is going to give me a better standard of life.... but they haven't managed that yet. Still ever the optimist..... I'm still hoping.

I have recently had exactly the same problem and my GP said it was tinnitus, which could be a result of meds or exacerbated by stress ( lot of stress atm but that's a whole different story which I won't bore you all with). I also have very low blood pressure which sometimes fells me, so I understand where you are. That having been said, I do think you should perhaps push for a second opinion, just to rule out other more serious conditions and for your own peace of mind, knowing what you are dealing with often helps you get your head round and its easier to deal with perhaps.......that's only my own very foggy opinion.

Thank you .. This site is great as it makes you realise you are not alone or crazy going through all of this. Maybe a few GPs should be reading these posts... It's so funny though all the hospitals & gp's i've seen over the years and not yet come across one with fibro. Is that because they don't diagnose doctors with fibro or because they all retire because the pain is too great? makes me wonder....

I am going back to the neurologist & the ENT so 3rd time lucky with neuro or maybe ENT will shed some light on something all the others fail to do.

It is a symptom of fibro so I would not worry too much about it. As for your dizziness I suggest you do what I did and get your ears tested. Although the fibro was causing me some of my balance problems it turned out to be mainly caused by Menieres disease and escalating deafness in both ears. I am now on SERC which helps, does not totally stop the balance issues but helps. And god help me if I run out or forget to take them. it is an immediate face to face meeting with the floor. I await how you get on xxxxx

Oh my goodness Ozzy, that brings to mind a problem we had when I was working for a pharmaceutical advertising agency. One of our clients produced Serc but we got our fingers well and truly rapped as the ad that we had prepared contained the wording "Serc cures Menieres" and wrath of the Advertising Standards Agency came down upon us with a mighty big fine and told to amend the ad to. "Serc controls Menieres ". We learnt a lot from that but the atmosphere in the office wasn't great for quite a while !!

It can be so easy to make a simple mistake. My GP says I am lucky as the combo of my other meds helps too. But there are days when the SERC are neither use nor ornamnet lol which is to be expected. But only because sometimes the menieres is too strong at any given time xxxxx

Thank you, I have an appt with ENT so hopefully that will shed some light on it. My balance is so bad that I can't turn my head without toppling over, I have told my gp this for about 3 years now but am only just getting referred to ENT as the gp said my ear drums are cloudy, whatever that means... so I guess I'll wait for the ENT appointment and keep my fingers crossed they do something. x

Ozzy, just from what ive read, Labarynthitis could also be causing problems and that's in the inner ear, which o f course you will be able to talk to with your ENT, is there any way you could push for an urgent appt.?, though by the sounds of it your GP isn't exactly swift on the uptake. If you get a letter and know which consultant you are going to see perhaps give his secretary a ring and ask if a cancellation comes up, - I'm not sure what your situation is but if you are able to take an appointment at short notice it could be useful. x

I was diagnosed quite some time ago but I have spent over 6 months trying to get a copy of the report sent to the GP. In the end I told them I would happily collect a copy and take it to my GP personally, which I did today. He told me to hand it in to reception for dating so I hope to get my referral soon. Another thing that drives me barmy is when all the different sounds jumble up together and I can hear nothing that makes any sense, but that has its uses when I am not in the mood for listeneing. And according to a tribunal judge there is nothing wrong with my hearing! Normally my GP is good, he will sit at the pc in front of me and refer me there and then. But he is such a popular GP it is often so hard to even get an appointment with him xxxxxx

I also get electric shock like sensations, which I liken to being punched in the head from inside out. They tend to shoot from front to back, are more likely to happen when I am overtired and can result in me passing-out momentarily and falling! I had an MRI scan and Brainwave Studies and a cause could not be found they were attributed to my Fibromyalgia.

i get this all the time,,,more now than ever before.. but i suffer from severe vertigo due to having ear problems since i was a child. im deaf in my left ear and partially in my right. im not sure what this feeling is. but am due an operation on xmas eve so will find out then x

Wow I'm sitting at the doctor's office waiting on a blood test for my 16 yr old son. He's been complaining of similar symptoms like the electric shock, but he tells me that it happens randomly but usually with loud noises and he says he feels dizzy, like if the things around him are moving away from him. The doctor is ordering a blood test but says if it continues he may have to see a psych? I asked if they can do x-rays and the doctor said no because x-rays don't detect noise?! Needless to say I'm frustrated cause this is my son. What kind of specialist should I look for? Help please... Btw the doctor said it wasn't his ears cause he saw nothing wrong when he checked them...Thank you

Hi I also get the buzzing in my head and dizziness and balance problems !! Have fibro too!!! But I also get electric shocks when I touch things !!! It happens all the time and it doesn't have to be one particular thing such as metal !!! It can be anything !!! It drives me potty!!!!! Any one else get the same ????? We all must be electric !!!!!!

Feelings of dizziness, auditory disturbances, and any other abnormal sensory sign (such a shock sensations) all fall into the neurological category. I would suggest seeing a neurologist. They will have a much better idea of what is going on after giving you a proper neurological exam. Before going, consider writing a list of all the times (going back as much as 5 years) when you've had any sort of problem with your 5 senses (even if the problem went away) as well as weakness, fatigue, lack of coordination, and urinary incontinence. I hope you all find this helpful.

Many thanks for this it is very useful and very much appreciated. As a matter of interest, I suffered what I can only describe as an electric shock sensation all the way from my right foot up to my spine late last year. As a result a had a very heavy fall and hurt myself quite badly. The doctor at A&E said it was a result of a disc moving, I must admit that I have never felt pain like this before. It would appear now however that I have actually broken the disc! I would not fancy ever going through that again.

I'm sorry to hear about your back, that must have been a terrible inconvenience (not to mention a bit unsettling). There's nothing quite like nerve/spine pain so I can completely see how novel that must have been for you. Thanks for sharing your story. I'm really glad to hear the problem has been figured out and that you're on your way to some relief. I wish you all the best in your recovery.

Oh this is so up my alley. I mean in having this syndrome or whatever. My fiance and I were talking about it. He used to hear a gunshot. For years, I've been getting various noises that slash through my head across the top or in my lower head, etc.

I describe them as electrical or metallic like lightning bolts. For lack of better description. They feel a bit constricting so they get my attention and they are shooting, fast and loud. Often they happen in response to a noise or if I turn my head a certain direction, but also independent of either. I wondered if it was a part of tinnitus which I have.

Reading here, I now suspect it is a result of the fibro I was recently diagnosed as having (and probably have had for years). It may be related to both tinnitus and fibro. I have never been alarmed by it, but the frequency has increased a bit so that is what brought me to this forum.

I am also on psych meds - yeah I'm a bundle of genetic defects, lol - so perhaps those meds contribute or are even a cause. Reading that young people who have none of the above meds or syndromes makes me think it has a myriad of causes. I am surprised the medical community doesn't have more info on this. I will check with my medical primary next month and see if he has any more to offer.

I have never thought there was anything dangerous about this as the body does any number of weird things. I still wonder if it is just a crossing of signals, pressure on the auditory nerves, synapses misfiring. Who knows . . . Anybody? ;]

OMG.....I thought I was going crazy thinking that these feelings of electric shock/buzzing sensations were nothing. I think they are for sure something and only getting worse. My balance is off, I take a double step a lot and fall down. I also get the tingling in my hands & feet. My doctor has scheduled a CT Scan & has given me a referral to see a neurologist. I was diagnosed with Fibro in Oct 2013, sometimes I don't think my husband gets it, only because to look at me on the outside I don't look sick. I am now looking into going on Short Term Disability at work because it hurts so much to sit all day behind a computer in pain trying to think and work.

3 years agoHidden

I've been getting these feelings too. Almost a dizzy spell but it feels like an electric shock coursing through the entire body - with a wave of pins and needles oho with it. I was on an anti depressant, but they stopped as I didn't like the "emotional zombie" feeling. These "spells" also occurred while i was on the anti depressant. I get other symptoms too - chest pain (not cardiac I'm told) and bowel pain (was told IBS - now under investigation as blood evident in bowel motions) Am off to dr now. Been in hospital 3 times in last 6 months - no one seems to have any answers.

"For 2 years I have been telling my doctor I keep getting electric shock sensations in my head, makes me feel as if someone has shaken my brain inside my skull, I also get a click & buzzing that I can hear at the same time. "

I have "brain buzzes" too. But, like a pulsing buzz that happens often when I reach my arms up over my head to stretch. Then, my head buzzes and pulses like an electric wire. It seems to happen when I eat any kind of processed food that might have MSG or other weird additives in it. It also happens with gluten exposure. MSG has tons of different names, you can google it and get a list. Since MSG and gluten can be like a toxin to the brain if you're sensitive, it's good to try eliminating them. If you haven't already tried going organic, it's an interesting thing to try out. Artificial sweeteners can cause bad stuff too. Hope you find relief!

When I saw your post I completely identified with it. I have suffered for years with the same problem and you explained it so well. I get that zzzzzzz feeling in my head but not to the extent of falling. I have no idea what has caused it but it did start around the time of my menopause!!!

I have ear problems and stomach problems too, I see my GP wednesday and am pretty sure they will be linked to my FM. However that doesn't mean that the problems don't need tackling.

I'm sorry that you are in this position of back and forth appointments (it's relentless I know), but keep going and I'm sure you will get the answers you need.

I had the same symptoms that you were or is still effected by. I was shocked by a wireless bluetooth and the doctors diagnosed me with multiple diagnoses. Doctors are so stuck in their studies and never think outside the box. I am now trying to link the bluetooth and my condition. I had lost of balance, speech, strength and ability all on the right side of my body. Come to find out I had a lesion on the left side of my cerebellum which makes sense.

So, my father fell ill this year and I found your post while researching his symptoms out of desperation. Ask your doctor to check for limbic encephalitis caused by voltage gated potassium channel antibodies. The diagnosis save my dad's life and it's a simple treatment of plasma and steroids. Nobody even knew about this condition 8 years ago. We are lucky to live near Stanford!

Hi Velvetv, I am very sorry to hear this and its such a shame and a disgrace that the docs just fob you off with "Oh, must be the Fibro". How are you getting on now? I hope you are well and have people round you not to mention a doc that should understand you. I get a shock sensation through my brain and it seems to go all the way to my chest almost as if in my heart. It seems to happen when I look left and right with only my eyes (head straight forward). I get a tapping in my brain when I'm jogging and nobody understands it. I have not been diagnosed with any neuro-disorders and of course wouldnt want to either but, that doesn't stop me asking opinions of my GPs and Psychiatrist. They cannot come up with an answer. Does this sound like Fibro? People in my family know me well (obviously) they also seem to think I have some sort of mild Autism or Asperger's disease. I wouldn't think (IF THAT WERE THE CASE) that it'd be connected though as some of my problems are sense related and others are thoughts.

I've been banging on about myself but really I would like to know how things with you are now, I mean have the doctors given you any new thoughts on what's going on, I really hope you are well. Take care. Daniel x

I too have fibromyalgia and have experienced this buzzy "crazy" feeling in my head. It's just a split second at each occurrence but frustrating. I take cymbalta and Neurotin. I don't have ringing in my ears. Any revelations out there?

I was diagnosed with RA and Fibro about three years ago. I don't take any meds as they don't work anyway. I get electric feels through me off and on. However, the last few days it has been constant. I feel like I constantly have electricity running through my head and down to my fingers. I hate this feeling and it won't go away! What did you find out? Is it from Fibro?